CHANDIGARH: Punjab leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa on Monday asked chief minister Bhagwant Mann to intervene and resolve the issues of rice millers in the state to the smooth lifting of paddy from grain markets.
He said that due to the ongoing strike by rice millers in parts of the state, over 65% of the paddy purchased so far has not been lifted from mandis. A total of 14.88 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of paddy is lying in mandis with rice shelling units refusing to let the government stock the newly purchased paddy on their premises, he said.
“Grain markets in Punjab have minimal space. Regular procurement of paddy from farmers can only take place if enough space is available in grain markets. Many parts of the state have been witnessing incessant rain for the past couple of days, which would potentially damage the stock laid openly in mandis,” Bajwa added.
The senior Congress leader said that considering the prevalent circumstances, the Punjab government should act and sort out the rice millers’ issues immediately.
The rice millers in the state have been on strike for the past three days over the rejection of fortified rice kernel (FRK) blended rice by the Centre. They claim to have no role in the quality of FRK that they get to blend (1kg FRK in 99kg of custom-milled rice) as it (FRK) is purchased from the government of India-notified manufacturers.
Bajwa said paddy procurement in the state was earlier hit by the strike by arhtiyas (commission agents) and now the protesting rice millers were leading to obstacles in the procurement process.
